Indiana Name Change Requirements

General Summary of Name Change Laws

The Courts are often willing to accept name changes for almost any legitimate reason. However, the granting of an application for change of name is discretionary with the Court. For an order/decree/judgment of name change to be granted, the Court must find compliance with the requirements of notice and the requirements for the allegations in the application. The Court must also find good and sufficient reason for the change, find the change consistent with the public interest and if the change of name is for a minor child, find that the change is in the best interests of the minor child.

You cannot change your/one's name for a fraudulent purpose, such as to avoid debts, you cannot change to a name that could affect the rights of another person, such as a celebrity, you cannot use a curse word, racial slur, obscene and/or an offensive word as part of your/one's name and you cannot change to a name that would cause deliberate confusion (for example, a name with punctuation and/or a number in it).

IMPORTANT NOTE: For name change actions, which involve a minor, our materials are strictly for use if both parents consent to the name change. If one parent does not consent, our materials are not appropriate. The applicant may wish to contact a local lawyer, bar association, etc.

Again, please remember, our name change materials are designed to cover simple, uncontested name changes ONLY.

Overview of the Process for Changing an Adult's Name in Indiana

The process to change your name in Indiana is relatively simply. Here are the basic steps involved:

Fill out the simple, Adobe™ .pdf fillable documents included in our offerings.

Print the documents and file them (along with any copies which may be needed and the applicable filing fee) with your local Court.

The Clerk will assign a case number, process your application (including establishing a filing date) and may return a copy of your application to you (marked as filed).

The court will set a hearing date when you file your Petition.

Make arrangements to publish in your local newspaper a notice of your proposed name change.

Show the Court proof of the publication and file applicable forms.

Appear in person before the Court, if necessary.

Notify the appropriate agencies, institutions, etc., of your name change.